The General Services Administration surprised the San Diego and Tijuana region on Sunday with better than expected progress on work for the final phase of the San Ysidro expansion and renovation project.

They announced:

...the reopening of the southbound Interstate 5 and Interstate 805 freeways at the San Ysidro Land Port of Entry (LPOE) on September 25, 2017 at 12 a.m., 12 hours ahead of schedule. The southbound freeways were closed south of the California State Route (SR) 905 freeway on September 23, 2017 to accommodate Phase 3 of GSA’s San Ysidro LPOE modernization and expansion project.

Additionally, GSA will reopen a total of four I-5 southbound freeway lanes south of the Camino de la Plaza overpass for vehicles traveling to Mexico. One lane will remain closed to facilitate the construction of the interim curve to El Chaparral and the additional Phase 3 permanent infrastructure.

That bolded bit of information is actually a better surprise. Even after the entire El Chaparral crossing into Tijuana was to be opened, two of the five lanes that originally connected the I-5 with the provisional curved road into Mexico would remain closed until the permanent new section of the I-5 was to be completed.

Now though, just one lane will remain closed, alleviating concerns south of the border that a narrower entrance during the coming months would affect tourism and the general binational economy.

As the The San Diego Union-Tribune reports:

this work is part of an ongoing expansion and modernization project at the crossing that will ultimately double the number of southbound lanes — from five to 10 — into El Chaparral in Tijuana.

More inspection booths will also be added.

As the project continues, travelers were advised to continue monitoring signs and their speed while driving through the construction zone. Signs will be posted to announce changes in traffic patterns within the construction area, officials said.

The $741 million project is expected to be completed in 2019.

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@Joedesancho

jose.sanchez@sandiegored.com